Quenching nozzle



Sept. 26, 1944. J, P. ARB X 2,359,171

QUENCHING NOZZLE Filed Aug. 5, 1945 INVENTOR Patented Sept. 26, 1944QUENCHING NOZZLE John P. Tarbox, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to BuddInduction Heating, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of MichiganApplication August 5, 1943, Serial No. 497,430

2 Claims.

This invention relates to quenching nozzles of the type shown in thepatent to Howard E. Somes, 2,321,431, granted June 8, 1943, and anobject is to provide an improved construction of that type of nozzle.

In hardening the inner surface of annular articles, such, for example,as wheel hubs or the like, the bore of the article is quickly raised toa critical temperature by a heating head positioned in the bore,whereupon the head is removed and the heated surface quickly anddrastically quenched to harden it. The above-mentioned patent disclose aquench head formed by a hollow tube adapted to be positioned in the boreof an annular article, and having a series of circumferential rows ofports so spaced, circumferentially and axially, that stream; ofquenching fluid forced through the ports will impinge on thesurroundingheated surface at points equally spaced both laterally andlongitudinally of the surface. Relative rotation between the quench headand article is employed to obtain as uniform a rate of heat extractionthroughout the heated surface as possible. In the patented nozzle thearrangement of the circumferential rows of ports causes the point ofimpingement to occur in similar rows on the heated surface and relativerotation does not change this condition.

A further object of this invention is to provide a nozzle of the typesetforth constructed and arranged to have the points of impingement travelacross the entire area of the heated surface upon relative rotation ofthe nozzle and workpiece so that every part of such surface is subjectedto direct impingement of fresh quenching fluid during the quenchingoperation.

These and other objects which will be apparent are accomplished by thepresent invention, one embodiment of which is shown in the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view through a quenching nozzleconstructed in accordance with one embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of the nozzle shown in Fig. 1, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating the operation of the nozzleshown in Fig. 1.

The present invention comprises a tubular member ll having a series ofports l2 arranged spirally around the member. The inner bore of themember is provided with a spirally formed outwardly sloping wall l3which follows the spirally arranged ports, sloping outwardly anddownwardly and terminating in a spiral groove it formed on the innerwall and communicating with the inner ends of the port l2. The surfaceof the groove I4 is curved and tangent on one side to the bottoms of theports l2, while the inner side of the groove is formed with a. sharp,upwardly facing shoulder [5. The shoulder, groove, and sloping surfaceall cooperate to direct fluid flowing downwardly through the tubularmember ll outwardly through the ports l2.

A metering pin 2| having a lower end 22 threaded into and closing thelower end of the tubular member II projects upwardly to a point abovethe ported area of the nozzle, and the pin is so formed as to provide aflow area in the nozzle which continuously decreases in the direction offluid flow from the upper end of tube II toward the lower end. The pinis formed to cooperate with the interior construction of the tubularmember II to substantially equalize the velocity and volume flow offluid through each of the ports l2. For this purpose, the pin isprovided with a spirally formed inclined surface 23 which graduallyincreases in diameter from the upper cylindrical end 24 of the pin wherethe diameter is least to the lower end of the pin opposite the last ofthe perforations H where the diameter is greatest. In this way, the pinis provided with a peripheral face 23 of continuously increasingdiameter which follows the spiral arrangement of the ports l2 togradually reduce the fiow area so'through the tube in the direction ofthe fluid flow. The inclined tapered spiral face 23 directs fluid on tothe surrounding spiral groove l4 and thence through the different portsalong the groove.

In operation, the nozzle is positioned within an annular article, forexample, the bore of a wheel hub 21, the inner wall of which is to bequenched and the inner diameter of which is considerably in excess ofthe diameter of the nozzle by an amount greater than is required for thedischarge of quenching fluid. The article to be quenched should have aninterior diameter such that the dimension A is equal to the dimension Bof Figure 4.

Preferably, the circumferential spacing between adjacent ports and thepitch of the spiral formed by said ports is such, when the workpiecebeing quenched has a particular interior diameter,

that the center of impingement of each stream upon the work surface issubstantially equally spaced from the center of said impingement of Ibetween centers of impingement of adjacent streams is substantiallyequal to the axial spacing B between axially adjacent streams when theworkpiece has a particular diameter. The cross sectional area of thepassage for fluid should be such as to cause uniform distribution perunit of area to the respective ends of the heated surface beingquenched. In the present embodiment this is done by forming the headwith a spiral of sufllcient length to extend the ports beyond the endsof the heated surface area. Quenching fluid is introduced into thenozzle through the upper end in the usual way, threads 26 being providedfor connection to a suitable fluid supply line.'

The pressure within the tube is so distributed by the continuouslycontracting flow area as to produce substantial equal volume andvelocity of flow through each of the ports l2. The flow through eachport is such per unit of time as to equate the extraction of heat perunit of area per unit of time by a given stream with that of each otherstream. This produces a uniform heat extraction throughout the surface.As indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, because of the spiral arrangement of theports l2, it will be apparent that upon relative rotation between thenozzle and the surrounding workpiece every portion of the workpiecesurface will be subjected to direct i'mpingesaid distance beingsubstantially in excess of that needed for removal of quenching fluidafter its impingement on said surface, comprising a tubular memberadapted to be inserted into the space surrounded by said surface andhaving ports arranged in a spiral pattern for directing a plurality ofsimilar streams of quenching fluid radially outward on to the worksurface, the circumferential spacing between adjacent ports and thepitch of the spiral formed by said ports being such that the center ofimpingement of each stream upon the work surface is substantiallyequally spaced from the center of impingement of each circumferentiallyadjacent stream and also substantially equally spaced from the center ofimpingement of each axially adjacent stream, in combination with meansaffecting a decrease of flow area longitudinally within said tubularmember in the direction of liquid flow, whereby there is dischargedthrough each port that quantity of quenching fluid per unit of timewhich substantially equates the extraction of heat per unit of area perunit of time from that area upon which the stream from the port impingeswith the extraction of heat from each other unit of area upon whichstreams from the other ports impinge,

2. A quenching nozzle comprising a tubular member having a metering pin,said pin having a spiral shoulder of continuously increasing diameterproviding the internal annular cross-section of said tubular member witha continuously constricting path of fluid flow from one end to another,whereby said shoulder produces a, continuously decreasing flow arealongitudinally within the tubular member in the direction of fluid flow,and a spirally arranged series of discharge ports in the tube associatedwith said spiral shoulder.

JOHN P. TARBOX.

